


Absolutely Monstrous

by PostcardsfromTheoryland



Series: All that time, people thinking the worst of you [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Family, Mentions of Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-26 09:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1683764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PostcardsfromTheoryland/pseuds/PostcardsfromTheoryland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Your son is in the news again."<br/>"Must have done something ridiculous to get into the papers over here.  He didn't get arrested, did he?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Absolutely Monstrous

“Your son is in the news again,” Timothy called from the kitchen.

Margot sighed fondly - Sherlock was always _hers_ whenever he did something wrong. During the calls from the terrified nannies telling them Sherlock was dissecting birds on the kitchen table, from the disciplinary problems the three years they’d attempted to put him in the local primary school, to the two universities he’d dropped out of and the drug addictions and constant fears for his health. Still, it was nice to be needed, at least - Mycroft had been largely self-sufficient from about the age of four onward, and then tried to take her job, as well, dealing with some of the Sherlock Problems, as they’d been termed. Which was both rankling and relieving.

“Must have done something ridiculous to make it into the papers over here,” she answered. “He didn’t get arrested, did he?”

They’d taken to spending large portions of time in the southern United States - the weather was much more pleasant. She did miss their boys sometimes, although it wasn’t as if they’d seen much of Mycroft or Sherlock when they’d lived closer, anyways. Mycroft had been enticed home two or three times a year, Sherlock less than that. Eventually, Timothy and Margot had accepted they had very little in common with either son and given up. At least Mycroft still sent them Christmas and birthday cards.

“Didn’t look,” he said. “Just saw his picture while I was flipping through. He was with that nice doctor fellow, though, so he’s probably alright.”

John Watson had been a godsend. When Mycroft told them Sherlock was doing cocaine (her bright, brilliant, whirling dervish of a son doing drugs!) she’d tried once, just once, to take matters into her own hands. She and Timothy had brought Sherlock home and locked him in his childhood bedroom to wait out the withdrawal.

It had ended poorly for everyone involved.

That was the last straw, really. Mycroft said he would try to deal with things and they’d washed their hands of the whole business.

But then John Watson had appeared on the scene, and he seemed so good for their boy. A lot fewer drug scares, at least. She let herself think that maybe the paper was announcing their engagement - wouldn’t that be nice? Not that she expected they would be invited to the wedding, mind, but it would still be a relief to know Sherlock really had someone to take care of him.

Margot wandered back into the kitchen with her mimosa and Timothy pointed to a section of the newspaper off to the side. She flicked through it and found her son’s picture on the fifth page in.

The glass slipped from her hand and shattered.

_Fraudulent Detective Takes Own Life_

**Author's Note:**

> I was talking with a friend this morning about the large differences in Sherlock and Mycroft's relationship to their parents between series 1/2 and series 3, and wondered what could have made the Holmes parents take a much more active role in their sons' lives in s3. And then I wondered when exactly Mycroft had told them Sherlock's suicide was fake, and maybe the scare had been enough to restrengthen family ties, and this happened.


End file.
